glad its working out, I'd be curious to know if it would sustain higher loads, like maybe a heated jacket.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I really like the idea of the fan controller too. In keeping with the 20w max rating per pot, I see possibilities to control heat in different areas of a jacket independently. Otherwise, it would probably be a good idea to spring for the warm 'n safe Heat-Troller pulse modulator to run a 75w or 100w jacket.

Yeah, I really like the idea of the fan controller too. In keeping with the 20w max rating per pot, I see possibilities to control heat in different areas of a jacket independently. Otherwise, it would probably be a good idea to spring for the warm 'n safe Heat-Troller pulse modulator to run a 75w or 100w jacket.

Click to expand...

they used to make 75w fan controllers, wonder why I can no longer find any. Shoulda bought one when they were available.

I've started making my own heated stuff a number of years ago.
I think from the old 'Sue's homemade heated gear' info.

I found it worked quite well, but learned some things.

1. Like mentioned, keep the wire as close and snug to your body as you can. If it sits away just a bit, it won't work nearly as well.

2. The connection to the power cord needs to have very good strain relief so it doesn't get damaged when you forget to unplug.

In the past I wired up the liners of my various jackets, but got a Roadcrafter and it didn't have a liner. I started looking into jackets to wire up, but by the time I got one that had elastic to keep it snug, some sort of windproofing- I just bought one of the Warm-n-Safe ones.

A little comparison, from a cheap...er... thrifty guy.

Having the elastic on the jacket that made it very snug but comfortable is really important to how well it works. Maybe some don't get as cold as I do, but it made a huge difference.
The heated collar was very nice and well worth addition.
Wiring that allows plugging in gloves/socks - either in parallel or separately is well work it also.

In the past I ran wires and controllers separate for jacket/gloves/socks. Now I'm running one controller for all. A bit of a trade off, since optimum temperature for each item isn't always possible, but I like it better since it is one plug-in and I have a handlebar mounted heat controller.

That said, it was well worth it for me to just buy the Warm-n-Safe jacket.
For those that don't want to spend the money (or don't have it) I'd keep the points in mind when you make one. May or may not be important to you but all worthy features for me.

Gloves, I've never tried to make any, but had some Widder ones in the past. Warm, but bulky as heck and I never liked them.
Sold them and got he Warm-n-Safe 'Ultimate' heated glove. No insulation, thin like summer gloves, knuckle guards (more on that later) and a waterproof layer.
I tired them with and without the waterproof layer and couldn't tell any feel difference at all, but the ones with the layer were noticeably warmer. I guess they don't make them like that anymore and that is too bad. Others that don't have Reynolds and problems with cold fingers may not notice the difference.

On the knuckle guards, I got in a wreck about a year and a half ago (my own dumb fault) and hit my hand very hard on something (probably the car). I had a huge bruise, but I'm convinced that my hand would have been broken without the carbon knuckle guards. I'm a big believer.

I know I'm sounding like a Warm-n-Safe rep or something, but I'm just a very satisfied customer (there customer service is fantastic).

So, keep it snug, one thin layer under, wamer layers over. Don't have the wired overlap or get too close to each other (hot spots), use decent sized wire TO the heated wire.

The ultimate gloves come with or without the Waterproof liner.
Many people wrote in saying they wanted some insulation in the glove. It's a very thin layer of thinsulate. That's why the non insulated glove was dropped.

The Classic Rider gloves are best for cold riding. Larry

Lotus54 said:

I've started making my own heated stuff a number of years ago.
I think from the old 'Sue's homemade heated gear' info.

I found it worked quite well, but learned some things.

1. Like mentioned, keep the wire as close and snug to your body as you can. If it sits away just a bit, it won't work nearly as well.

2. The connection to the power cord needs to have very good strain relief so it doesn't get damaged when you forget to unplug.

In the past I wired up the liners of my various jackets, but got a Roadcrafter and it didn't have a liner. I started looking into jackets to wire up, but by the time I got one that had elastic to keep it snug, some sort of windproofing- I just bought one of the Warm-n-Safe ones.

A little comparison, from a cheap...er... thrifty guy.

Having the elastic on the jacket that made it very snug but comfortable is really important to how well it works. Maybe some don't get as cold as I do, but it made a huge difference.
The heated collar was very nice and well worth addition.
Wiring that allows plugging in gloves/socks - either in parallel or separately is well work it also.

In the past I ran wires and controllers separate for jacket/gloves/socks. Now I'm running one controller for all. A bit of a trade off, since optimum temperature for each item isn't always possible, but I like it better since it is one plug-in and I have a handlebar mounted heat controller.

That said, it was well worth it for me to just buy the Warm-n-Safe jacket.
For those that don't want to spend the money (or don't have it) I'd keep the points in mind when you make one. May or may not be important to you but all worthy features for me.

Gloves, I've never tried to make any, but had some Widder ones in the past. Warm, but bulky as heck and I never liked them.
Sold them and got he Warm-n-Safe 'Ultimate' heated glove. No insulation, thin like summer gloves, knuckle guards (more on that later) and a waterproof layer.
I tired them with and without the waterproof layer and couldn't tell any feel difference at all, but the ones with the layer were noticeably warmer. I guess they don't make them like that anymore and that is too bad. Others that don't have Reynolds and problems with cold fingers may not notice the difference.

On the knuckle guards, I got in a wreck about a year and a half ago (my own dumb fault) and hit my hand very hard on something (probably the car). I had a huge bruise, but I'm convinced that my hand would have been broken without the carbon knuckle guards. I'm a big believer.

I know I'm sounding like a Warm-n-Safe rep or something, but I'm just a very satisfied customer (there customer service is fantastic).

So, keep it snug, one thin layer under, wamer layers over. Don't have the wired overlap or get too close to each other (hot spots), use decent sized wire TO the heated wire.

I was inspired. Between you and ken phenix, I made my own gloves. Finally finished them and got them right Christmas night. A little run today and I had warm comfortable hands in 39 degree weather (according to a church sign I passed).

Click to expand...

HAHAHA!
Are we on the same page here or what! I found this pic of my earlier Home Depot gloves with matching yellow shrink tube on the nichrome.

BTW: I had trouble soldering directly to the nichrome too so I used unshielded crimp connectors - crimped the crap out the wire and then filled the connector with solder. Then I either covered the connector with shrink tube or painted it with liquid electrical tape.

Thanks to all that contributed to this thread. I used a fleece jacket, and tried to sew the wire on it, more trouble than I thought. I cut up some patches and ironed them on instead. Much easier and faster.

Lesson learned: do not wear short sleeve shirts under these wires. HOT!!!

I've added heated pants and a heated pullover fleece to the collection!

Just finished this one, I've still got to do the final wiring and sew a t-shirt over the wires.

I used the single stranded teflon wire I bought last year instead of the multi-stranded. The single stranded is hotter and burned the gloves so I had to use nichrome wire for those. The single strand didn't burn the thermals or fleece! Turns out, it puts out more heat than the multi stranded wire, something like 45% more.

Also ordered 2 of the pwm controllers and am scrapping the fan controller since I couldn't find the right container for it.

glad its working out, I'd be curious to know if it would sustain higher loads, like maybe a heated jacket.

Click to expand...

The answer is no! I tried my new heated pants and it wouldn't work. In fact, I fried the thing when I inadvertently hooked the wires up backwards. It still worked, but some of the channels didn't. In desperation, I went to MicroCenter and bought a Rheobus Extreme @ 30w per channel. Works great for the gloves, but it won't power the pants either. This year I ended up ordering 2 dc motor controllers and making a jacket liner so I have a full set of gear now. Not what I was thinking when I started this project last year. I guess I should go all out and make heated socks too!

All in all, I was happy with the fan controller(s) for the gloves but when I wanted to add more stuff, they just weren't suitable. At the size it really isn't a viable solution for just gloves.

The answer is no! I tried my new heated pants and it wouldn't work. . . . . I guess I should go all out and make heated socks too!

All in all, I was happy with the fan controller(s) for the gloves but when I wanted to add more stuff, they just weren't suitable. At the size it really isn't a viable solution for just gloves.

Click to expand...

No heated pants here. With insulated mc pants and army surplus poly thermals my legs don't seem to get cold. My feet would get cold in the 20's and I had difficulty designing socks, making them flexible / washable, etc. My answer was 16w 26ga nichrome laden insoles that put most of the heat on top of my toes. They work very well.

I really enjoy making my heated gear - economical and rewarding. However, I had to defer to the purpose built Heat-Trollers. At $50 to $70 per knob, they're hard to beat.

Ken, I forgot to ask, were did you get your heat shrink? I had to get mine at home depot and it was a lot of money for a little bit of heat shrink! One pack @ $2 or $3 was enough to just cover the 4.5 ft of wire I used in my gloves. That is for one glove only.

For my other stuff, I used the single strand teflon and tested it on an old pc power supply to make sure it didn't singe the materials like it did with the gloves.

I probably should have just gone the commercial controller route because by the time I get done with my controller vers 3.0, I could have bought Gerbring controllers and still had enough money left over for a day long ride! Unfortunately for my wallet, I'm enjoying the challenge too much to give in and go for the commercial controller!

I might end up with the heated foot liners like yours too, gotta see how my boots do in the cold with wool socks.

Ken, I forgot to ask, were did you get your heat shrink? I had to get mine at home depot and it was a lot of money for a little bit of heat shrink! One pack @ $2 or $3 was enough to just cover the 4.5 ft of wire I used in my gloves. That is for one glove only.

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Computer and electronics shops stock it in 4ft lengths for around $2 a stick which can easily elongate to cover 6ft of wire. Just put one end in a vise or clamp and pull gently while you're shrinking.

I might end up with the heated foot liners like yours too, gotta see how my boots do in the cold with wool socks.

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IMHO my insoles are AWESOME! I highly recommend them. I used the original insoles that came in my boots to make the foot heaters. I just use gellin' insoles the rest of the year. One winter I got caught in freezing rain for 300 miles in old boots that leaked. My feet got soaked but did not get cold.

Ken, I forgot to ask, were did you get your heat shrink? I had to get mine at home depot and it was a lot of money for a little bit of heat shrink! One pack @ $2 or $3 was enough to just cover the 4.5 ft of wire I used in my gloves. That is for one glove only.

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Harbor Freight. They have a wide range of tubing to choose from. $3 for 4.5 feet of tubing sounds about right, though.